“A ROMANCE IN LETTERS” OF SHMELEV AND BREDIUS-SUBBOTINA: PARADOXES OF SMELLS AND AROMAS OF LOVE
The article considers the correspondence of the famous writer Ivan Shmelev (1873–1950) with Olga Bredius-Subbotina (1904–1959). Their acquaintance took place in the emigration in a “reader-admirer” format. It was a difficult period in Shmelev’s life due to the execution of his single son, the forc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Alfred Nobel University Publisher
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Alfred Nobel University Journal of Philology |
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| Online Access: | https://phil.duan.edu.ua/images/PDF/2019/2/12.pdf |
| Summary: | The article considers the correspondence of the famous writer Ivan Shmelev (1873–1950) with Olga
Bredius-Subbotina (1904–1959). Their acquaintance took place in the emigration in a “reader-admirer”
format. It was a difficult period in Shmelev’s life due to the execution of his single son, the force to
emigrate, the death of his wife. The writer’s state evoked sensation of parting with the world. Unexpected
correspondence with Bredius-Subbotina, her admiration for the creative work of a talented master of
literature revived the desire to live and create. This time it was correspondence, which over time gained
special significance for Shmelev, gave him the opportunity to be heard in his stories about the tragic feelings
with which he had lived for years. Among the most painful one was the theme of Crimea, which broke out
in correspondence with the deeply stored state – the memory of the Crimean smells, as it turned out, was
more stable, strong and therefore dear to the writer’s heart. This implied a corresponding reaction of the
addressee. But Bredius-Subbotina remained somewhat indifferent to the topic of Crimea, nevertheless she
was able to offer a new format of correspondence on the wave of Crimean smells favourite by Shmelev. In
the letters by Bredius-Subbotina the accents were shifted to the experience of pleasure of flower aromas
and smells. Shmelev accepted this proposal without giving up on the Crimean oxymoronic meanings,
multiplying them by the smell of grapes and roses, as a challenge to the abnormal world. Bredius-Subbotina
was no less persistent in her desires, so with special force turned “scents of life” into correspondence, i.e.
scents of favourite flowers, thereby arousing Shmelev’s impression through his sense of smell, helping him
to return to his youth, to boyishness, to a seemingly forgotten state.
Thus, in 1941, in the midst of the tragic events of the World War II the traditional theme of world
literature love and war revived in correspondence between Shmelev and Bredius-Subbotina. The moment
came when Shmelev realized that Olga Aleksandrovna was his last love, and his correspondence with her
was a “romance in letters”; he, as a writer, created his last work of art, which would be read by descendants.
Therefore, Shmelev not only restored the traditions of world and Russian love epistolarians, but also
brought his experience back to his youth. He was fascinated by the possibility of exchanging flowers and
floral aromas, which contributed to the intensive work of the imagination. In his letters, the writer created
floral sketches of his beloved one, and then wrote an etude “Girl with Flowers”, which he managed to
convey. Hyacinths, bells, lilies, peas, lilacs were transferred from Paris to Holland and became symbols of
passionate love.
Shmelev and Bredius-Subbotina turned to another cultural tradition, and therefore received letters
with the smell of French perfume, which created a sense of bodily intimacy, a special state of love. Flowers,
floral fragrances, French spirits mixed in love correspondence determined its style and presented a unique
image of love for the twentieth century. |
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| ISSN: | 2523-4463 2523-4749 |